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Officer involved shooting ‘justified’

Warren County District Attorney Rob Greene has found that an officer involved shooting last month was “justified.”

The incident occurred at a Stillwater Road residence in Freehold Township on the morning of March 22.

According to Greene, Warren County Drug Task Force investigators with assistance from the Pennsylvania State Police SERT (Special Emergency Response Team) served a “high-risk search warrant” at the residence.

“The search warrant was issued after a multi-month-long investigation into the illegal sale of methamphetamine in the Warren community,” Greene said, “and the suspect having guns on his property/person while being a person not permitted to possess firearms due to prior criminal convictions.”

Greene confirmed to the Times Observer that the suspect was Justin Giordon, 41, Sugar Grove.

Giordon “was considered armed and dangerous which was the reason for the ‘high-risk’ warrant,” Greene explained.

Officers made entry into a garage and discovered Giordon “holding a firearm and refused to drop the gun after commands to ‘drop the gun.’ The suspect then made a sudden movement with the gun in his hand and a member of the PSP SERT Team fired one round, killing the suspect.”

The shooting was investigated by the Pennsylvania State Police and Warren County Drug Task Force.

Those results were then turned over to Greene.

“After review of all the video, statements of witnesses and the incident report, I have concluded that the officer involved shooting that led to the death of the suspect was justified.”

As a result, Greene said that “no further action will be taken by this office.”

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